Letter: School boards, not judges, should decide on school spending

Tuesday

Oct 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 29, 2013 at 11:42 PM

A letter (Oct. 17, Leavenworth Times) exposes the names of school districts that are using our tax dollars on lawsuits to sue us, the people for whom they work. A law is needed to force school districts to get the taxpayers' permission before using our tax dollars to sue us!

Donna GillettLeavenworth

To the editor:A letter (Oct. 17, Leavenworth Times) exposes the names of school districts that are using our tax dollars on lawsuits to sue us, the people for whom they work. A law is needed to force school districts to get the taxpayers' permission before using our tax dollars to sue us!

Ignored by the writer but even more egregious is that the Kansas Supreme Court has already usurped legislative authority in deciding the 2005 lawsuit resulting in additional money sent to school districts to the point that some districts created a contingency fund for "emergencies." Given that education in government schools takes 2/3 of every tax dollar it is a sad report by the Kansas Policy Institute that by 2011 Kansas achievement scores had not improved.

Some districts (including Leavenworth) have continued to pay money to lawyers since 2005 to keep the lawsuit alive. The Gannon lawsuit seeks for the justices to again legislate from the bench. So enough already!

Our Supreme Court and our elected school boards are out of control. They must learn that our Kansas Constitution calls for the legislature to appropriate the money that Kansas spends – not seven people in black robes! It does NOT require a "suitable education." The requirement for education in Article 6, Section 6, is for the legislature to "make suitable provision for finance …".

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